How to Sell at a Gun Show: Tables, Fees, and Setup

Booking a table

Contact the promoter directly — most run table applications by email or a form on their own site, and strong shows sell out months in advance.

Expect $60 to $150 per table for the weekend, with discounts for multiple tables and for returning vendors. Corner and end-cap positions cost more and are worth it.

Licensing and compliance

Selling modern firearms as a business requires a Federal Firearms License, and promoters will ask for a copy before confirming your table.

Collectors selling from a personal collection face lighter requirements, but several states require even those transfers to run through a licensed dealer. Confirm the host state's rules first.

Bring your bound book, 4473 forms, and a reliable way to run NICS from the floor. Cell service in metal buildings is unreliable — plan for a backup.

Setting up

Bring your own table covering, lighting, cable locks or zip ties, price tags, a cash box with plenty of change, and a card reader as a backup payment option.

Price everything visibly. Tables without tags get browsed and walked past; buyers do not want to ask.

Put your highest-interest pieces at eye level on the aisle end, and keep boxes and clutter under the skirt.

Making the weekend pay

Saturday morning is the biggest crowd and the firmest pricing. Sunday afternoon is when deals close — set a walk-away number in advance for anything you would rather not repack.

Consumables carry the weekend for a lot of vendors: ammunition, magazines, holsters, cleaning kits, and reloading components move steadily even when big-ticket sales are slow.